GEOLOGICAL CHECK-UP

Work fronts exploration, reserves determination, revision, sampling and mapping, by the geologists, to identify mineralizations and their behaviors.

GEOLOGIC PLANNING

Design, programming and projects elaboration. Mines production process control.

PERFORATION

Drills opening for demolition with manual or mechanical rotopercussion drilling machines in the rock.

EXPLOSIVES TRANSPORTATION

Once the drills are perforated, explosive quantities to be used are determined and transferred from the powder magazines established in the surface to the different fronts, to be distributed and charged.

CHARGE

Holes are charged with Dynamite Venagel 5%, Anfor and Fulminants 95 %, iniciators of the explosion.

WATERING AND WEDGING

After the explosion, 8 hours of ventilation and gases evacuation pass before the work’s front is watered to eliminate the remaining powder, and the blocks loose are taken away from the roof (wedging) and in some cases fortified with meshes.

TRANSPORTATION

Material fragmented with the explosion is taken with Pay loader into 8, 13 to 20 t. capacity trucks to be transported to the dumping holes or excavations communicated to the end of the shaft having up to 500 t. capacity storage hoppers.

EXTRACTION

Ore is extracted from the mine through SKIPS of 4.8 t. capacity each. Este mineral es enviado directamente a Planta para su tratamiento metalúrgico, o bien a las pilas de almacenamiento del patio.

TRANSPORTATION O PLANT

Transportation to Plant Caratal or to Plant “El Perú”.

PRIMARY TRITURATION

Ore reduction from 12” to 4” size through a jaw crushing machine.

SECONDARY TRITURATION

Classification and reduction of the mineral to 5/8” size through the use of a conical vibrating and crushing sieve.

MILLING

Ore reduction and classification to 38” size for the gold liberation and dissolution with sodium cyanide in to stages: primary and secondary milling.

THICKENERS

Liquids / solids separation of the cyanided gold pulp coming from the milling (Emx) and decantation of the gold rich solution and solid sedimentation for later lixiviation in shakers and finally washed cross-current using decanting tanks (DCCx).

FILTERING

Clarification and deoxygenating of the rich solution coming from the previous stage and precipitation of the gold through Zinc powder (MERRIL CROWE process) through candle.   

FUSION

Gold precipitate (dust or mud) from the solution through a filter press, precipitate calcination in a calcination furnace and later fusion in a reverberatory hearth furnace or an electrical induction furnace for obtaining gold lingots.